Video of the Week: Cascading glacier melt in Gupis valley

Our Video of the Week takes place in a remote mountainous region of northern Pakistan. The video, shared by the World Meteorological Organization, was shot by a villager from the Ghizer district, which is located in the Gupis Valley in Baltistan. Glacier melt and snow is seen descending from a nearby valley, alarming residents.

Northern Pakistan is home to over 5,000 glaciers. The region is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with an increasing number of glacial lakes forming in mountain valleys in recent years. The melt is likely coming from the nearby Baltoro Glacier, one of the longest nonpolar glaciers in the world. Many of these glaciers are melting rapidly due to climate change, posing a great threat to nearby mountain communities.

The Gupis Valley in Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan is an area particularly vulnerable to #climatechange and #glacier melt. This video recently taken by a local villager and shared via @CLIMATEwBORDERS shows the impact.

This video was published ion GlacierHub on January 23, 2019.

Nabilah Islam is a current graduate student of the Climate and Society Master’s program at Columbia University. She’s interested in understanding climate induced natural disasters, as well as management of limited basic needs resources in developing countries and among vulnerable populations.